History YMMV / Maury

* RetroactiveRecognition: A 10-year-old Music/{{HER}} appeared on a "Maury's Talented Kids" segment in 2007, which Povich highlighted in a episode after she won two Grammy Awards.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bAm9VY0XFU "Bring out the olives!"]][[note]]One guest was deathly afraid of [[AbsurdPhobia olives]], as they remind her of her grandfather's dead eyes at his funeral. Maury assured her that there were no olives in the studio, only to summon a stagehand to come out with a big jar of olives.[[/note]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bAm9VY0XFU "Bring out the olives!"]][[note]]One guest had been deathly afraid of [[AbsurdPhobia olives]] since she was a little girl, as they reminded her of her grandfather's dead eyes at his funeral. Maury assured her that there were no olives in the studio, only for a stagehand to appear with a big jar of olives.[[/note]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bAm9VY0XFU "Bring out the olives!"]][[note]]One guest had been deathly afraid of [[AbsurdPhobia olives]] since she was a little girl, as they reminded her of her grandfather's dead eyes at his funeral. Maury assured her that there were no olives in the studio, only for him to tell a stagehand to bring out a jar of olives.[[/note]]

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* AcceptableHardLuckTargets: People with phobias, in which they're shown reacting hysterically to ordinary things like pickles, balloons, mustard, and cotton balls.

* DesignatedVillain: The accused fathers in some cases. While some of them tend to be genuine deadbeat assholes, the mother was occasionally shown to [[ReallyGetsAround very promiscuous]] and at times were a guest on the show multiple times, giving the guy a genuine reason to deny being the father.

* DesignatedHero: Very often, the person who is onstage first is usually seen in a sympathetic light by the studio audience no matter if the person is onstage second has probable cause to assume that person is being unfaithful or if the person themselves admits to being unfaithful but does not admit to the full extent of their deeds, like having children by other men/women or cheating more than the times they said they did. As a result, the person who is onstage second is seen as being either cruel, a deadbeat, or paranoid and is usually booed and heckled by the audience, no matter how obnoxious, illogical, or dishonest the person onstage first may seem.
* DesignatedVillain: The accused fathers in some cases. While some of them tend to be genuine deadbeat assholes, the mother is occasionally shown to [[ReallyGetsAround very promiscuous]] and at times has been a guest on the show multiple times, giving the guy a genuine reason to deny being the father.

* FriendlyFandoms: It's a less rowdy counterpart to ''Series/TheJerrySpringerShow'', to the point where both are usually shown back to back. People on both shows have gotten the two confused and sometimes the audience on ''Maury'' chants Maury's name like they do on ''Jerry Springer''.

* JerkassWoobie: In cases where the woman is proven wrong on a DNA test after taunting the potential father of her child, Maury tries to invoke this with wildly varying results:
** A particular example of this is Simone. She was homeless and slept with numerous men for shelter AND her boyfriend slept with her sister and many other women, but her behavior was often so obnoxious that the audience usually felt more contempt than sympathy for her.
** A woman named Kenyetta came on the show because her boyfriend Michael cheated on her with her cousin Emma and may have gotten them both pregnant. Emma was saying that Michael was definitely not the father of Kenyetta's baby and showed no remorse for sleeping with her cousin's boyfriend despite the fact that Kenyetta took Emma in. However, it's hard to feel sorry for Kenyetta because Michael was not the father of ''either'' of the babies. To make matters worse, Kenyetta returned again and said she only cheated on Michael one time and displayed extremely obnoxious behavior towards the second possible father. After that man was proven to be not the father, Kenyetta [[LargeHam went into histrionics]]. Even worse than that, Kenyetta returned 2 more times for a total of 4 men tested for her daughter, and both times, she openly bashed the potential fathers, and both times, the DNA tests were negative. However, Kenyetta gets pushed back into JerkassWoobie territory after she reveals that she slept with these men because she was very insecure about her weight and wanted to be loved.

** "That's a man, Maury!" has become a joke among {{Drag Queen}}s when a queen is ''trying'' to look convincing as a woman but is too physically masculine to pull it off.

* TheScrappy: ''The studio audience'', due to their nearsightedness and people viewing them as being incredibly biased towards either gender, depending on the circumstances.[[note]] The audience's almost robotic behavior seems to be affected by who was onstage first and not what gender they are; they will usually view anyone who goes against what the person they heard first says as a "bad person", regardless if they are male or female, as women have been booed for claiming men were the fathers of their babies simply because the lady was onstage second.[[/note]] Many guests especially hate the audience. Some have even resorted to staying hidden backstage so they wouldn't have to deal with them.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Whenever the guy isn't the father, or has a decent argument (got cheated on, kid's of a different race, etc.).

** The audience is expected to feel sorry for the female guests when they break down after a paternity test reveals that the male guest isn't the father of their child or children. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that many of these women chackle unrelated men as being the cause of their pregnancies.
** In most cases, as amusing as it may be for the studio and TV audiences, the adults involved in DNA tests are genuinely unlikable people who you don't want to envision with any type of responsibility with a child.

* ValuesDissonance: ''Maury'' has stopped the "Man or Woman?" episodes as views on UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} people changed in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
* ViewerGenderConfusion: The point of "Man or Woman?" episodes. 10-15 people come onstage as women, while the audience tries to guess if they are really female or male. It's quite easy when you've seen several shows before and realize the patterns. Most of the ones that look the ''most'' like women (usually, also with large breasts) and are dressed in the most revealing outfits are actually men, and the ones who move and behave awkwardly, have a large build and more makeup, are actually the women. With these facts, you will be right in your guesses most of the time.

** The times where the same couple come back time after time, and each time leave the show having ended it because of the cheats, lies, or whatever. This especially apply to the abusive partner episodes, particularly when there are ''children'' involved.

** Whenever a man breaks down in tears when he finds out he ''isn't'' the biological father of his beloved child. The woman as well, because if she did cheat on her boyfriend/husband, she will have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life.
** For some, the children of the guests. Most of the guests are not people you want to imagine raising children.
** The guests in the phobia episodes. While it can be {{narm}}-y, having a phobia is serious. It can keep you from functioning well and enjoying most common things.
** Adult children who take a DNA test. You can see the pain they're going through due to all the drama and uncertainty.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A 10 year old Music/{{HER}} appeared on a "Maury's Talented Kids" segment in 2007, which Povich highlighted in a episode after she won two Grammy Awards, thanking her [[WereStillRelevantDammit for keeping his show relevant]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The audience is expected to feel sorry for the female guests when they break down after a paternity test reveals that the male guest isn't the father of their child or children. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that many of these women chackle unrelated men as being the cause of their pregnancies.

* EightDeadlyWords:
** In most cases, as amusing as it may be for the studio and TV audiences, the adults involved in DNA tests are genuinely unlikable people who you don't want to envision with any type of responsibility with a child.
** There was one case where a mom came on to prove that her deceased son was not the father of another woman's child. However, she did it in a way that would have gotten her booed if she was the second person introduced. Then, the mother of the infant came out and got violently booed. When it was revealed the deceased man was not the father, his mom poured on so much verbal abuse, it came dangerously close to a FaceHeelDoubleTurn. Maury himself looked increasingly uncomfortable as the bickering went on.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A 10 year old Music/HER appeared on a "Maury's Talented Kids" segment in 2007, which Povich highlighted in a episode after she won two Grammy Awards, thanking her [[WereStillRelevantDammit for keeping his show relevant]].